Tag: The Black Keys

If at any point you were under the impression that this festival fever is a game, then you were sadly mistaken. Next up on a big week for festival announcements is the Hangout Music Festival, which takes place on a beach in Alabama. The headliners are solid and include The Black Keys coming out of hiding alongside The Killers and Outkast.

Other notables include Queens Of The Stone Age (who should be headlining ALL these festivals with their stellar work in 2013),Modest Mouse, The Avett Brothers, Tagan and Sara Pretty Lights, Childish Gambino, The Flaming Lips, STS9, Jack Johnson (wouldn’t be a beach if Jack Johnson wasn’t there), Reignwolf, Andrew W.K. and many many more.

For ticketing information head over to HangoutMusicFest.com. Start planning your mid May trips to the deep south now.

Here we go folks, another day another festival announcement. The 2013 version of the Beale Street Music Festival released its lineup this morning. Taking place at Tom Lee Park during the Memphis In May International Festival May 3rd through the 5th. Serving as your headliners are The Black Keys,Alice In Chains, The Flaming Lips and The Smashing Pumpkins, ZZ Top, Deftones, Patti Smith, Gary Clark Jr., The Joy Formidable, Heartless Bastards, AWOLNATION, Cracker and The Wallflowers round out the list of acts this writer would want to check out. Other acts you may be into: Phoenix, Bassnector, SherylCrow, Lucero, Hall & Oates, The Roots and Public Enemy to name a few. The full list of acts are below, and for tickets (which are very reasonably priced compared to other festivals across the country) and other information head to the festival’s Official Website By Clicking Here.

Not sure if we mentioned it before, but tis the season to announce festival lineups. This time lets head to the land of the grapevine that is Napa Valley for what is dubbed Bottle Rock Festival. Cork-Fest must not have had as much of a ring to it as I thought it did. This one is interesting because, well, one might ask why the Kings Of Leon would be the lead headliner along with The Black Keys and Furthur. Furthur? Come on man. I like the Grateful Dead as much as the next guy but The Flaming Lips, Jane’s Addiction and Primus are sitting on this same list of acts playing. Bad Religion could close this thing out playing songs only off True North.

It all goes down May 9th through 12th. If you’re having trouble reading the text in the above poster never fear, some loser went through the trouble of actually typing out every single band listed there-and that lays below. As usual, it’s always best to head over to the festival’s official website if you feel like partying with the Zac Brown Band,- do that by clicking here.

Its a big week for festival lineup announcements as this afternoon gave us the big names that will star at this years New Orleans Jazz Fest.

From April 25th to Cinco De Mayo the Fair Grounds Race Course will be graced will festival goers looking to check out their favorite acts, and there’s a little bit of everything in this one. Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Dave Matthews Band and The Black Keys lead the way while other notables include Widespread Panic, Hall & Oats, Gary Clark Jr., Phoenix, Willie Nelson and Patti Smith.

For the full day by day breakdown of which days who’s playing you can visit the festival’s official website by clicking here. If you want to take a look at the important acts, scroll down a bit.

No need to check your calender, it is not April Fools Day. Today is however that magical day when The Black Keys and The Flaming Lips announce four shows they’ll play TOGETHER this Spring. No word on whether they’ll alternate headlining slots or will they do what the Flaming Lips did with Weezer in 2011 when both bands set gear up onstage and each band would play three songs at a time before switching it up. Either way, this is TOO freaking cool, if you’re in one of these towns please go see this. Dates lay below. I found the picture at this message board called Consequence Of Sound. Props.

Not a bad way to wake up this morning. Even if “Free” means “Do Charity Work”

Neil Young, Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and Band of Horses among others are set to perform New York City’s Central Park on the “great lawn” as part of what they are dubbing the Global Festival, on September 29th , benefit concert to help raise money to try and end world poverty.

Rolling Stone is reporting that tickets are at a discounted price of FREE and will given out in a lottery to individuals who perform “charitable acts”. That’s right folks, there’s volunteer work involved.

This event is put on by the same people who bring us Coachella, and that’s Goldenvoice/AEG. You can commit to the Global Poverty Project here, and that’s where this writer will assume you can find out these “charitable acts” that must be done in order to see the likes of Neil Young , The Black Keys and Adult Contemporary Rockers Foo Fighters and others in Central Park on a cool Autumn evening in New York City.

Just be on the look out for police if you think it’s okay to smoke cigarettes outside. Mayor Bloomberg, along with 32oz soda, has deemed it “illegal” to smoke a cigarette in Central Park. Last time I checked, that park was OUTSIDE. But don’t get me started, just enjoy the show.

The reasons to visit Mexico once in your life are endless. Those of us who have actually have Autumn and Winter (we speak not of Reverend Justito, who lives in a place that doesn’t know what weather is), would love to escape it. Why not take a weekend and spend a few Peso’s on some cheap blow and easily accessible sedatives while spending your evenings taking body shots of tequila off sexy senorita’s, chasing it with Dos Equis alongside the Most Interesting Man In The World. Yes, I’m thirsty my friends.

All kidding (or what we’ll call kidding to save face) aside, The Corona Capital Music Festival can be added to the list of reasons to visit. You can add the likes of The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Florence And the Machine will all be in Mexico City October 13th and 14th, along with a returning New Order, James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) and Sleigh Bells mixed in there as well. Hell, even the Wallflowers are on the bill.

For the full list of acts that you can’t read because the poster is weird, we got a list for you below:

Sadly we were unable to make it out to Delaware for the Inaugural Firefly Music Festival. However that won’t prevent us from sharing highlights from some of our favorite artists including The Flaming Lips, Cake, Modest Mouse and GROUPLOVE. Check them out down below.

But we here at Concert Confessions don’t just give you the highlights, we give you the whole enchilada. So below, you can view the endless list of acts that will be taking the stage in Austin at Zilker Park October 12-14. Check out the festival’s website here, for on sale dates and prices and all that jibber jabber.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Neil Young and Crazy Horse

The Black Keys

Jack White(I hear some folks are into this guy)

Florence + The Machine

The Avett Brothers

Iggy & The Stooges

AVICII

BASSNECTAR

The Roots

The Shins

Weezer

Gotye (is it pronounced ‘Goat-Tee’ or ‘Got-Ya”???)

The Civil Wars

M83

Tegan and Sara

Childish Gambino

Two Door Cinema Club

Thievery Corporation

The Afghan Whigs

Crystal Castles

Andrew Bird

Gary Clark Jr.

Metric

Band of Skulls

Esperanza Spalding

Alabama Shakes

Delta Spirit

M. Ward

Randy Rogers Band

Die Antwoord

Rufus Wainwright

NEEDTOBREATHE

Big Gigantic

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

Steve Earle

The War On Drugs

Umphrey’s McGee

Barrington Levy

Old 97’s

Punch Brothers

Bombay Bicycle Club

A-Trak

Trampled by Turtles

Patterson Hood

Michael Kiwanuka

Big K.R.I.T.

Oberhofer

POLICA

Tennis

Zola Jesus

Stars

Kimbra

Black Lips

Los Campesinos!

Jovanotti

Ben Howard

Ruthie Foster

Freelance Whales

Civil Twilight

The Whigs

Dev

The Lumineer

Bad Books

The Devil Makes Three

Asleep at the Wheel

First Aid Kit

Patrick Watson

LP

Caveman

Lee Fields & The Expressions

Father John Misty

The Wombats

Dry the River

The Boxer Rebellion

Soul Rebels Brass Band

Thundercat(Really!! There’s a band named Thundercat?! That’s awesome!)

Having successfully rocked two weekends of Coachella last month, arena rockers The Black Keys will return to the West Coast this fall. The short trek will kick off in the meth infested central valley hotbed known as Fresno and will wrap in beautiful Las Cruses New Mexico a few days later. From there Patrick and Dan head off to the land down under. No word on who will support Tegan and Sara will support The Black Keys on this trek and dates are down below. As always keep a close eye on the band’s official website for up to the minute information.

There was a reason I have always avoided Coachella and that reason is the sun. Fact is my white ass doesn’t do so well out in the middle of the desert. So it is fitting that my first trip to Coachella felt more like my hometown of San Francisco versus the Palm Desert. Strong winds, sporadic showers and thick fog were a downer for everyone but me. But enough about the weather, let’s discuss the first Friday of Coachella 2012.

James

I have a pal, his name is James and the album title Get Laid by James has always made us laugh. So to pop my Coachella cherry I decided to start off with this long running Manchester band’s main stage set. I honestly couldn’t name a single song they played, I didn’t get to hear the song Laid, but I did run into my pal Brian so that was pretty sweet.

Gary Clark Jr.

I ran across the Polo Fields from the main stage to the Gobi Tent for the first act I was truly excited to see. With the wind blowing hard through the tent, Gary Clark Jr. hit the stage with a fantastic set of rock/blues revival. Song like “When The Trains Pull In” and “Don’t Owe You A Thang” felt more like Bonnaroo as the crowd danced under the tent. I ended up sneaking off right after he teased some “Third Stone From The Sun” action as I decided to check in on another hippie heavy act.

GROUPLOVE

As I have shared in the past, I have been trying to see Grouplove since last summer. I still need to see Grouplove. With hurricane strength winds and extremely douchie fans assembled under the Mojave Tent I only lasted two songs. Sadly the band sounded terrible and I am not sure if it was the wind, the fact they are blowing up before they have the time to grow as a live act or a combo of both. I am sure Hannah Hooper is a lovely gal but someone should mention to her that when winds are whipping she may want to actually sing into the mic when she dances around instead of projecting from eight feet away. I split after “Itchin on a Photograph” with the thoughts in my mind that perhaps the third time is the charm.

Death Grips

In my pre-Coachella YouTube session, Death Grips caught me off guard. I have a thing for noisy bands and I am always down to check out any act who call Northern California home. With their road crew rocking San Francisco Giants hats, the band hit the stage to a very small crowd. I lasted about ½ the set and I have very mixed emotions on the band. Unaware of how long they have been performing live, you can tell the group needs some work on their stage presence, especially lead vocalist MC Ride. What I do like about this group is they are a new wave of acts that are the evolution of heavy music. I like the combo of aggressive beats matched with a hip hop meets DC hardcore vocal flair. It’s unique it’s refreshing and God damn did it make me feel old.

Girls

If you have followed this site for a while you know I love Girls. I showed up about ½ way into their Outdoor Stage set and was delighted to see bassist Chet White rocking an old school San Francisco 49ers jacket. The part of the set I saw was heavy on last year’s outstanding release Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Highlights included Saying I Love You, Alex and the set closing Vomit. Towards the end as the song gets heavy and lead singer Christopher Owens is singing “looking for love” with the help of backup singers, the rain began to fall heavily upon the crowd. It was as if it was in synch with the San Francisco based group and the first truly magical Coachella moment I was lucky enough to experience.

Artic Monkeys

After catching up with some pals, I caught my third Arctic Monkeys show from the beer tent. Shockingly, while I was not exactly watching them it was the best I have heard this band play. Highlights included “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” and the track recorded with Mr. Josh Homme just a few miles away “Crying Lightning.” The perfect dinner band, even if dinner is two quickly pounded cups of Heineken.

Madness

Hey look it’s Madness. Cross them off the list of bands I have never seen.

Pulp

As I mentioned sarcastically in my Coachella preview, I know “Common People” and that’s about it. Yet despite not knowing much about the band they were the highlight of day one. The Jarvis Cocker lead act sounded incredible and he is a helluva front man. I love his rambling banter on everything from learning how to have sex to the admission that Coachella wanted them last year and it simply didn’t happen. Oh and Cocker hit me with a grape before performing “Babies” that was pretty awesome. I went to see Pulp knowing they don’t make it across the pond to the states very often, and I left their set as a fan. Oh and just to make assholes like me happy, you know they closed with “Common People” and it was all I had dreamed of and more.

The Black Keys

I knew this band was ready for headline status when I tried to catch them at Outside Lands and was at least two football fields back. Thankfully I was much closer on this evening and enjoyed most of the Akron duos set. Opening up with the 1-2 punch of “Howlin’ For You” and “Next Girl” the massive crowd erupted for the main stage headliners. Some of the background videos seemed to be glitching but no one really cared as the duo were bringing it hard. Other highlights included the duo ditching their back up band to go at it alone on older songs like “I’ll Be Your Man” and “Your Touch.” One of my favorites from their stellar new record El Camino, “Little Black Submarines” was the perfect way to close out my first proper show by The Black Keys in order to get a quick beer and a slice of pizza before ending my night at the Outiside Stage.

Explosions In The Sky

Granted most of the set was watched from the beer garden as I ate the earlier mention pizza and drank the earlier mentioned beer but I really liked what I heard from this Texas based post rock instrumental act. The music was beautiful and with no lyrics found a way to bring out emotions I wasn’t expecting to feel. By the time I finally got to the field, they were unfortunately just wrapping up their set. There is going to have to be a next time for these guys.

Refused

I never thought I would see these fine Swedes live. But there it was just past 11pm with the rain coming down rather hard. Opening with The Shape of Punk To Come my arms were forming goose bumps while the younger generation were forming circle pits. The band sounded amazing as if they had not been broken up for the past decade plus. In between rants of how the band has moved on from trying to overthrow our government, the band was crushing us with classics including “The Refused Party Program,” “Rather Be Dead” and “Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine.” What I thought was most interesting was how the band discussed their reunion. They explained how it would be wrong of them not to do it since so many fans wanted it. The band was humble (their last US gig was in a basement to 40 people) and appreciate of the fan as they rewarded the crowd to a balls to the wall set closing “New Noise.” As I sit here today, I still don’t believe it happened. Refused are alive and well and I saw it with my own two eyes.

In closing day one of Coachella was a blast. I am out in about 90 minutes for round two with the likes of Kasabian, Grace Potter and those pussy farting wastes of talent known as Radiohead.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, we officially have a list of the performers that will take the stage for Lollapalooza 2012.

After cancelling numerous tour dates earlier this year due to illness of Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath will headline the festival that takes place in Chicago August 3rd-5th alongside Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Black Keys.

Don’t worry folks, everybody’s favorite reunited band At The Drive In will be there too, along with Avicii, Florence and The Machine, Justice and The Shins. And I guess it wouldn’t be a festival if Childish Gambino wasn’t involved.

Editors Note: This is The 2012 Lineup. For the 2013 Lineup, Click Here

Firefly Music Festival To Be Held In Delaware

Delaware, welcome to the world of States that have sweet Music Festivals.

The news broke last night, that the three day ’Firefly Music Festival’, will be headlined by The Killers, The Black Keys and Jack White . Solid, right? I mean, sure The Killers aren’t in the stratosphere of musical relevance circa 2012 as the The Black Keys and Jack White are; but hey, they could have went with the Beach Boys, so we’ll chalk up those headliners as a win.

The ’2nd tier’ if you will, of headliners consists of The Flaming Lips (what AREN’T the Flaming Lips doing these days?), Death Cab For Cutie, John Legend, Girl Talk and Passion Pit(cancelled as a result of mental health issues).Modest Mouse, a late edition to the festivities, announced on June 25th they’d be in Dover as well that weekend.

Dubbed the “East Coast’s Premier Music Experience”, will kick off July 20th at Woodlands of Dover International Speedway in Delaware and end July 22nd with 3 day passes going for a modest $178 (as of 6/28, 3-Day passes have been sold out), at the Festival’s official website. The rest of the listed acts are below.

Update 05/08/12 – The Firefly Website now shows an image similar to the gang Hangman. While they promise a full lineup tomorrow 05/09/12 we have done some detective work and believe this festival is adding the following artists.

New York City brace yourselves, we finally got ourselves a good festival. It’s called Catalpa , and taking place July 28th and 29th at Randall’s Island Park in NYC.

Who are the headliners you ask?

The Black Keys, TV On The Radio, and Snoop Dogg (Performing 1993’s Doggystyle in it’s entirety). With a full announcement of artists to come soon, I’m pretty sure this is one all of us in the New York City area need to check out.

Weekend Early Bird Passes start at $99. The festivals official website says there should be 50+ acts eventually making there way into this line-up, but as of now the only acts confirmed (and we’ll keep you updated as they break) are listed below:

The lineup for the 2012 Reading and Leeds Festivals have been announced and as always they are mighty impressive. Headliners include Kasabian, Foo Fighters and The Cure. Other notable acts include At The Drive-In, Paramore and The Black Keys. As of press time, the website for Leeds Festival has crashed from all the heavy traffic, but you can check out the lineup for the Reading Festival below.

Kasabian, Refused, At The Drive-In and Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg – oh my. The 2012 Coachella lineup is out and it’s epic like elephant titties. Tickets go on sale Friday January 13th 2012 at 10 am PST via coachella.comWe hope to see you in the desert in April.

Update 01/13/12 1:00 PM PST

Both weekends of Coachella 2012 sold out in less than three hours. Our man Reverend Justitohas purchased tickets for the first weekend. If you are heading out to Indio, leave us a comment. Maybe he will buy you a beer.

Since tracks from El Camino , the lastest record from The Black Keys, began to be streamed along the strings of the Interwebs over the past week; this writer’s Twitter Feed has been filled with infinite praising from all the notable online music publications.

Not hearing the record yet, I was excited to hear that the no frills, hard rockin’ trio was headed to a spot on Stephen Colbert’s show The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. We have all the footage from their appearance for your enjoyment below.

I suppose it makes sense that The Black Keys are touring arenas. I remember summer in San Francisco and trying to see the pride and joy of Akron Ohio which didn’t work out so well as there was an entire Polo Field on fans in front of me. So yeah, with El Caminoabout to drop and a rather sweet video for the first single “Lonely Boy” blowing up the interwebs we give to you the first round of 2012 tour dates for arena rockers The Black Keys.

Dan Auerbach - The Black Keys - 6/10/10 STL

Oh and Arctic Monkeys are the special guests for this trek across the US. We only mention that so we can link you to our review of their co-headline show at the Hollywood Bowl.

With plenty of bands I wanted to catch spread across Golden Gate Park for the Saturday section of the 2011 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, you could compare my experience to that of a pinball. I bounced from stage to stage (and porta-potty to porta-potty) all day catching bits of performances from as many artists as I could.

The Greyboy All Stars

The All-Stars were rocking the main stage as we arrived at the festival. I managed to catch the final two songs. Not bad, but jam bands with horns have never been my thing. At least I can cross them off the list.

STRFKR

Some of our pals from the Pacific Northwest recently caught Starfucker (STRFKR) and shared that it was a good show. Taking their word my pals and I headed over to the Twin Peaks stage to check them out. Knowing that there would be no light show, I had hoped that the band would not disappoint my pals, but that was not to be the case. It’s not that STRFKR sucked as much as I assumed it would be something radically different. The dance/electronica elements were there, but my impression was the band had more bite. I am not a huge fan of the Weezer/Jimmy Eat World pop-emo sound which is a very large part of STRFKR’s sound. The band (who all looked as if they are not old enough to legally purchase alcohol in the United States) does what they do well, sounded tight and pleased a large number of fans as the fog burned off above the park. However, STRFKR simply isn’t my cup of tea.

The 2010 World Series Trophy

Not feeling STRFKR, my pals and I decided to check out the Sports Tent in search of when the Minnesota Vikings would be making their first pre-season appearance. It was around that time that the mighty Jerko texted me with the news that the World Series Trophy was on display. As a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan that has spent the last decade in Los Angeles this was a big f’n deal. Unable to drive to San Luis Obispo or Scottsdale, AZ for the trophy tour this was my once in a lifetime chance to get my photo with the World Series gold. When it comes to Outside Lands 2011, the trophy was the second coolest thing I saw all weekend (Phish of course being the coolest). Thank you Outside Lands for bringing the trophy to the park.

Sia

Any women who requests the seed of men from the crowd with the promise to send the child in the post 9 months later is A—OK in my book. While I doubt I will run to my local Best Buy and pick up her latest compact disc, the three songs I caught were good. She has a pretty voice, colorful appearance and a great sense of humor.

Arctic Monkeys

Technically didn’t see them, but could hear a solid chunk of the set as I ate a delicious Shrimp Po’ Boy. What I heard only pumped me up for the chance to see them next month at the Hollywood Bowl. It appears the rumors are true, much like Phish these cats are all about the live show versus studio albums.

Old 97’s

I have been on an Old 97’s kick the past 18 months. I was shocked to see just how empty the Sutro Stage was for their late afternoon appearance. After watching four songs, I think I know why. The band was boring and seemed as if they didn’t really want to be there. At least I got to see “Lonely Holiday” live in between songs from their recent album The Grand Theatre, Volume 2.

The Black Keys

Hitting the main stage and seeing 55,000 people waiting for The Black Keys answered the question as to where everyone was for the Old 97’s. I was stoked to see the sons of Akron, Ohio, but it was clear that would not be the case. At SIXfootONE I usually have no issue seeing at shows. Yet the closest I could get was about ¼ of a mile away from the stage. With a bright sun setting behind the stage and many objects in the way I had to jump to catch just a glimpse of the duo. While the sound where I was left a lot to be desired, I did manage to catch the group kick out tasty jams including “Thickfreakness” and “Next Girl” before heading over to catch The Roots.

The Roots

My main partner in crime this weekend is a huge fan of The Roots. They were his can’t miss act of the weekend. Since he hung with me for both sets of Phish, I could at least return the favor and check out The Roots with him. I am glad I did as they put on a phenomenal show. The energy over at the Twin Peaks stage was intense as ?uestlove and friends bashed out jams (often without stopping) from their entire catalogue. The only original I knew the title of was “The Seed” but that didn’t stop me from dancing my ass off, especially when the group busted out covers by Guns ‘n’ Roses and Led Zeppelin.

Warren Haynes Band

No disrespect to Matt Abts, but I have always felt that Gov’t Mule was Warren Haynes Band. I was curious what would make this different. As it turns out, horns. As we just learned, I am not really into horn driven jam bands. Walking up towards the end of the set, Haynes and company were mid jam on the song “Invisible.” Sadly with Muse having just hit the main stage a few hundred yards away the sound from the Sutro stage suffered. The group closed their set with the Haynes classic “Soulshine.” I had a feeling this would end the show and I was glad that I was right as it’s a great song.

Muse

Had I not seen Muse two weeks earlier (and last fall for that matter) I would have secured a sweet spot for their set after The Black Keys had finished. But with Girl Talk playing across the park I decided to skip Muse this time. I did walk past as they played “Hysteria” to a packed Polo Field. All of my pals who saw Muse loved them, but felt the Oakland show last fall was a superior performance.

Girl Talk

I know some folks love Girl Talk and I know some folks hate Girl Talk. As someone who is clueless about DJ dance trance electro world, my knowledge of Girl Talk is that he gets up there and basically mashes up other people’s hits while a bunch of barely legal girls high on ecstasy dance around on stage. As someone with severe ADHD, it sounded like a sweet concept and I am glad to report that I was correct. I managed to catch about 45 minutes of Gregg Michael Gillis’ set and it was the most fun I had all day (well, except for the World Series trophy). I mean who knew that Nirvana and Belinda Carlisle sounded so good together? While I don’t know if I would pay to see a headline performance, with constant stimulation via an ever changing soundscape (and not to mention killer light show) Girl Talk was not only the right choice for me, but a fun way to wrap day two at Outside Lands.

Returning for its fourth year, Outside Lands is set to rock San Francisco for three glorious days in August. Headlined by Concert Confessions favorites Muse, Arcade Fire and Phish, the initial lineup also includes such beloved artists as The Black Keys, MGMT and STS9.

Check out the full lineup below, as well as a sweet YouTube trailer put together by the festival. For all other information, including ticket details – check out the festivals official page here.

Anymore it seems though every average Joe has to come up with their Best Of… list for the end of the year. Well, I’m no exception! This list started at 21 shows and I was able to knock it down to 10. I then decided I couldn’t make this list without including Split Lip Rayfield. So 11 it is!

2010 was a great year for me in terms of live shows. It all started off in February where I attended shows 4 consecutive nights including State Radio, Split Lip Rayfield and back to back nights of Yonder Mountain String Band. Three nights later it was Trey Anastasio. Instrumental jam bands like STS9, Galactic, and Perpetual Groove. From The Dead Weather and Flaming Lips to the legendary Furthur, Phish, Chuck Berry, Dave Matthews, Mark Knopfler and The Eagles….it seemed like night after night it was a different show. I decided to exclude the 2010 Wakarusa Music Festival, and the first annual Yonder Mountain String Band Harvest Music Festival, otherwise shows from those two magical weekends would have taken up a majority of the list. I think I’ve seen approximately 45,256 shows this year including somethings I never thought I’d see such as Jamie Lidell and Chiddy Bang, both of which I really enjoyed.

So here it is, my Top 11 Shows of 2010.

Click on the links throughout to link to a YouTube video, some are from the show listed, some are just ridiculously good live videos from other shows.Some also feature links to full reviews for said show. And most of all support these great bands and all (good) live music.

Split Lip has become one of my favorite bands over the last few years, and their live show is a big reason why. A three piece band from Wichita, Kansas consisting of banjo, mandolin, and “Stitchgiver”, a standup bass made from the gastank of a 78 Grand Marquis, a piece of hickory and strung with one piece of weedwhacker line. They headlined at Blueberry Hill in February and opened for Reverend Horton Heat at the Old Rock House in May. Throw in a few shows at Wakarusa and Yonder Mountains Harvest Festival and I had the chance to be amazed by this band 7 times this year…..and can’t wait to see them again! Every show is dedicated to fallen former guitar player Kirk Rundstrom who passed away in 2007.

10. Furthur 11/11 – Chaivitz Arena – St. Louis, MO

Maybe it was because this was my first Phil Lesh / Bob Weir / Dead experience, or maybe it was because they did a cover of one of my favorite Ryan Adams songs of all time, “Magnolia Mountain”, but something magical was in the air on this November evening on the Saint Louis University campus. There were quite a few open seats and I went to this show ticketless, hoping to score one on the lot. No problem whatsoever thanks to a man also selling hippie crack on the open lot that was Shakedown Street. The show started with “Uncle Johns Band”, ended with “Attics of My Life” and included “Stella Blue”, “Cumberland Blues”, George Harrisons “Any Road”, and “Eyes of the World.”

Avett Brothers is a band I had been waiting to see live since I first heard them last year. Grace Potter is my make believe girlfriend. When I first heard the two were paired together for a tour, and The Pageant was on the agenda, nothing short of death would stop me from attending this show. GP&N opened the show and dominated the stage for roughly an hour, not long enough. She performed songs from all of her albums, including “Apologies.” The Avetts came out and played a killer nearly two hour set that featured 20 songs including “I and Love and You”, “Kickdrum Heart”, and a three song encore that started with my favorite song, “Murdered in the City” For a 3 (sometimes 4) piece band to do what they do, is impressive.

Never heard of Dirtfoot? I’m sorry! You need to! Dirtfoot is the only Front Porch, Whiskey Swillin, Foot Stomping, Gypsy, Punk, Country, Grumble, Boogie band in the land. They are pretty much the Mulberry Mountain house band for Wakarusa and Harvest Music Festival, typically drawing large dedicated crowds at their infamous late night sets as well as their 9am set at the Chompdown, a free communal breakfast put together by and for the festi-folk. They claim Shrieveport, LA as home and use guitar, banjo, drums, percussion, washboard, upright bass and sax to create their sound. It’s tough to find a band similar to Dirtfoot, and even tougher to find one that can duplicate the energy of a Dirtfoot show! This marked their first trip to St. Louis as part of the Wakarusa Pre-Party Tour with Mountain Sprout. They pulled out a cover of “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash, and played a nice mix of their own tunes, most of which involve crowd participation. Favorites of mine include “My Girl”, “Cast My Plans”, and “Little Bit of Rum.”

This was my first time seeing JB & the Boys live, and well worth the commute to Tulsa to see great friends and great music. I was going to be seeing them in a month at Wakarusa and wanted to see what I was getting into. There is no surprise as to why Panic has been as successful as they have over the past 20 years when you see these southern rock / jam band giants live. The lightshow is one of the most spectacular things I have ever witnessed (see: The highlight of the night was during the second set during “Chilly Water” when the entire crowd seemed to scoop up every bottle of water in the building to make it rain. Seriously, you couldn’t find a bottle to purchase ANYWHERE. Also played were “Hatfield”, “Surprise Valley”, “Lets Get The Show On The Road” and “Impossible > Makes Sense To Me” to close it out.

My favorite band of all time is Pink Floyd. I have never had the opportunity to see anything other than Pink Floyd tribute bands, including Aussie Floyd, Think Floyd, and St. Louis heroes El Monstero. Roger Waters announced his “The Wall 2010’ tour and I was unable to get tickets up until a week before the show. $115 later, I was wishing I had paid $250 for floor seats. The production of this show alone was worth the ticket price, but throw in the fact I got my first actual Floyd experience and this show is damn near impossible to top. I knew it was going to be nothing but “The Wall” but I didn’t care. “Mother”,“Goodbye Blue Sky”,“Young Lust”, “Comfortably Numb” they all sounded amazing and I had goose bumps for a majority of the show. Now I just need to keep my fingers and toes crossed for a Gilmour tour next summer or a Gilmour/Waters/Mason reunion (yeah right!)

Last summer was the first time I had gotten a chance to see Phish, as I had taken their break as my chance to really get into them. Stupid, yes. Worth the wait? Also yes. Last summers Chicago stop was a great show, but was lacking something. Whatever that was, they found and brought it along for Summer 2010 tour. The weekend not only ended up being recorded and released on DVD/CD, but also was considered by many to be some of the best shows of the tour. We had lawn for the first night, and some amazing seats for night two but it didn’t matter. Set lists from both nights rival any other Phish sets I have listened to. Night one started with “Tube” and included “Fuck Your Face”, “Lawn Boy”, “Gumbo”, “Down with the Disease”, “Mikes Song”, and “Sneaking Sally” into “Weekapaug Groove”. Night two was bookended by “Tweezer” and “Tweezer Reprise” and also included “Divided Sky”, “Farmhouse”, “David Bowie”, “2001”, “You Enjoy Myself”,“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Character Zero.” Thank you Phish, and no matter what most say, you are back!

I have had a small obsession with The Black Keys for a few years and had been dying to see them for the same period of time. I was granted the chance twice this year, both within a week of each other. They played at Wakarusa in June, and just a few days later trekked through St. Louis to play to a sold out show at The Pageant. We had arrived early to get a premium spot. All the stars had aligned finally and I was going to get my eardrums exploded by the 2 piece monster that is The Black Keys.

The beginning of the set featured favorites like “Girl is On My Mind”, “The Breaks” and “Stack Shot Billy”. They ripped through songs off of the ‘Brothers’ album, my vote for Album of the Year, with highlights including “Next Girl” , “Howling For You”, and my personal favorite, “Ten Cent Pistol”. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney closed the night out with “Everlasting Light” and “Till I Get My Way” before leaving the capacity crowd on their feet, and scraping their faces off of their shoes.

This show lived up the every expectation and made me forget about seeing them days earlier at Wakarusa. From “Thickfreakness” all the way through “Til I Get My Way” the energy never stopped. Not only did they release my top Album of the Year, but this show was far and away my favorite show of the year, and a show I will remember forever.

The once groundbreaking Los Angeles radio powerhouse has unveiled the details for the 21st annual Almost Acoustic Christmas. For most music fans snobs, the lineup is very average to say the least. Thankfully, most fans of KROQ are not fans of music, so chances are the show will sell out faster than you can scream PAYOLA.

Pre-sales are later this week, but that does not matter as Gibson Amphitheatre will be filled with close and personal friends of KROQ as well as individuals with nothing better to do then listen to the radio and call KROQ in hopes of being lucky called #20. As anyone in Los Angeles knows, it’s very hard to actually buy a ticket for these shows.

The line up for the 2010 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas is as follows:

It’s the summer of 2006…. I, like most people, am looking for something new to listen to and at this time, most of the new music coming out is terrible. I ask a friend to give me something good I probably don’t have. He gave me a copy of ‘Magic Potion’ and as soon as the second track, “Your Touch” started, I was officially hooked. I knew that I had to see this band live.

Dan Auerbach - The Black Keys - 6/10/10 STL

Four years, and three new albums later, including a collaboration with ODB, Mos Def, Ludacris and others on 2009’s ‘Blackroc’, and I finally got my chance. Not once, but twice in a matter of a week. The first was the 2010 Wakarusa Music Festival at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas the first weekend of June. The second was a sold out show at The Pageant in St. Louis on June 10, 2010.

Let the story begin with the hype building up to this show. The show at the 2500 person, The Pageant, sold out about three weeks before the show. Since that announcement, tickets were being sold online for upwards of $100, well over the $25 face value. I asked myself if these guys were worth that kind of money, while at the same time being thrilled that I was lucky enough to get tickets days before the sell out announcement.

As I approached the venue almost three hours before the doors were set to open, there were already a few folks out front asking for tickets. The ticket whores out front, with their stacks of tickets, were asking for $100 a piece and wouldn’t budge. My favorite moment was when a scalper asking $100 for tickets asked a girl for a cigarette, to which I butted in and said “I’ll give you a cigarette for $100” His response was not friendly to say the least, but the young lady as well as myself had a good laugh.

The opening act for the night was Brian Olive. He did a solid job opening the show, but everyone was more than ready for The Black Keys to embark on the stage and melt our faces off. They opened their set with “Thickfreakness” the title track from their second full length album. From that point on, Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach didn’t miss a beat or slow down to let anyone stop to process what was happening. Its tough to describe the emotion and feeling these guys put into their performance, but as you watch Auerbach shred his guitar and see Carney beating on his drums as if he was still trying to figure them out, it all starts to make sense. They feed off each other more than most other bands, but when there are only two members in the band, I guess you have too.

The beginning of the set featured favorites like “Girl is On My Mind”, “The Breaks” and “Stack Shot Billy” before Carney and Auerbach brought out two friends, only introduced as Leon and Nick, to help out with keyboards/organ and bass. This seemed to only help them, as it allowed them to not only count on each other so much, but gave them opportunity to loosen up and just play some rock and roll in the bluesy-funky way that The Black Keys have grown accustomed to. They ripped through songs off of the ‘Brothers’ album, with highlights including “Next Girl” , “Howling For You”, and my personal favorite, “Ten Cent Pistol” before having Leon and Nick leave the stage. Then it was right back into the two man spectacle that is The Black Keys with “Your Touch”, “No Trust” and “I’ll Be Your Man.” They closed the set out with “I Got Mine” from my favorite Keys album, “Attack and Release”, which featured some glorious cowbell and Auerbach, again, shredding his way through the guitar as Carney smashed his kit like it was the last time he’d be using it.

After a short break, Auerbach and Carney came back out with Leon and Nick to close the night out with encore performances of “Everlasting Light”, after which it was just the duo again for “Till I Get My Way” before leaving the capacity crowd on their feet, and scraping their faces off of their shoes.

After seeing them just six days before, I never would have imagined that the same band could be so much more intense less than a week later. But after leaving The Pageant and speaking with my friends who had just seen them for the first time, it was agreed that tonight’s show was nothing short of amazing. The Wakarusa show was good, and after their set Friday afternoon I could have easily been satisfied with my first Keys experience… But this show at The Pageant was something special. I don’t know if it was the more intimate venue, or just the atmosphere created by the 2500+ fans there specifically to see The Black Keys, but this show is on the top of my 2010 list and it will take a monster to knock it down.

This is a show that I would watch again and again, and would even consider paying the ticketwhores $100 a ticket to see this show next time around. Get your tickets now for The Black Keys; because this time next year, they won’t be playing in these small clubs and small theaters, this band is on their way to much bigger and better things.